Being a Brother
by SuishoTalim
Summary: Ben has been depressed and doubting himself since Kevin went insane.This is a conversation between Ben and someone who also see him as a brother.Pierce and Ben brotherly bond.


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**Here is a one-shot I thought up because the Plumbers' Helpers had not shown up yet and I see that Ben and Pierce are kinda like brothers. They don't interact as much in the show, so here are my thoughts on their relationship. This is a brotherly bond between Ben and Pierce. **

**I hope you enjoy it!**

Being a Brother

Pierce hurried towards the old training camp making sure he wouldn't be late for the others. With Magister Tennyson still recovering from the battle with Aggregor, he won't be able to lead any training missions, leaving him in charge of the Plumber's Helpers until then.

The training area that they always met was close to the cove, and really well hidden. The obstacle course and the target area were worn out, but still usable. Ben and his team would, at times, stop by to see their training. Usually Manny would pick a fight with Kevin or Ben just to prove that he is tougher than them, but he loses most of the fights between him and Kevin. Manny didn't even had a chance against Ben, even when he was only human. Those times were the best; back when Kevin was still sane.

Once he made his destination, he saw his team, well most of them. It looks like Manny and Alan are late again. It didn't matter with him; that was the usual with them. What was surprising was off the distance was Ben, lying on his back watching the clouds by himself. Pierce was used to Ben without Kevin here, but without Gwen?

"Hey Pierce," said Helen as she sped over to him.

"Hi Helen, what's Ben doing here? I thought he and Gwen were…"

"Ben said he's letting Gwen have some time to herself. You did hear what happened at the Plumber's Academy?" she said while giving a worried glance towards Ben.

The Plumbers Academy, how could he have not heard. Kevin was after Argit, and Ben thought that by hiding him at the academy, he could have the support of the recruits to help stop Kevin. It ended with one of those Vreedle brothers launching a highly explosive bomb that could have destroyed the whole place. Ben was able to take out the bomb and Kevin thought that he had done away with Argit. Argit is still alive and was arrested after the whole thing, but the damage to the place was pretty bad. That resulted with the academy closing until repairs were done, leaving him and his team training here most of the time.

"Yeah. Usually Ben's plans were more well thought out than that. Is he okay?"

These days, Ben Tennyson had become more serious and brooding. Sure he still makes jokes now and then, but Pierce can see how serious the situation Ben is in. Maybe this problem is more deep and personal than even he could realize.

"Don't know. I tried talking, but he says he rather be alone now." Helen was unsure. Ben had always been a tough person to put down, even when almost being tossed in the Null Void or facing D'Void in battle. She had never seen Ben this upset before, and it is starting to worry her. "Maybe you should say something Pierce."

Pierce was taken aback. "What? Me?"

"Yes you! He won't listen to me, so you two should have a guy to guy talk. At least it will take his mind off Kevin."

"You're right Helen, but I don't know if I'm the right person for him to talk to."

"I don't know, you seem like the perfect person to talk to Ben."

Helen and Pierce then turned their attention to Cooper, who is now joining them in their conversation and leaving the piece of machinery he was working on alone.

"What do you mean Cooper?" questioned Pierce.

"I'm just saying that you and Ben are a lot alike."

"It is true Pierce," Helen voicing her opinion. "You both are good leaders and take the mission seriously, most of the time."

"And you both have teammates you argue with and have to babysit."

"What is that suppose to mean Cooper?" Helen shouted looking offended.

"I mean Kevin and Manny!" Cooper explained as he cringed away from the Kineceleran. "I mean Kevin and Ben argue as much as Manny and Pierce, right? And those two would get into trouble most of the time that they need to watch them."

Helen calmed down and considered the facts. Ben and Kevin would argue, and they weren't on the best of terms most of the time. Manny and Kevin also had a lot in common; both were hardheaded and would always try to find someone to fight, mostly with each other, to the point that Ben and Pierce would have to hold them off.

"Cooper is right; you should be the one to talk to Ben. He has no one else to talk to. His grandfather is still recovering, and Gwen needs her space too. I doubt there is anyone else who can understand, so please. Just go there and try to help him," Helen pleaded to her older brother.

Pierce turned his gaze back to the wallowing hero. He had to face facts; Ben is depressed and he has to be the one there for him. Ben has done a lot to them and the rest of the universe, so he should be the one to see if the intergalactic hero was okay.

"Sure Helen. You and Cooper start training okay?" Helen and Cooper nodded and Pierce made his way towards Ben. I have never seen Ben in such a depressed mood before, how can I even help?

"What?" said Ben as Pierce came only feet away. He didn't even bother to move from where he lay or turn his head, opting to just stare at the passing clouds.

"I just thought you could use the company."

"No, I don't," Ben said in a dull and flat tone, so unlike his usual carefree self. "I just want to be alone."

Despite that Pierce sat down next to him, not wanting to argue about that. There was an awkward between the two until Ben sat up, looked Pierce straight in the eyes, and said:

"I don't need your sympathy."

Pierce just stared at him at that statement. That wasn't like Ben at all.

"What do you mean by that Ben?"

"I mean, I'm just fine," he stated while staring at the ground.

"You don't look fine to me!" retorted Pierce. "Listen Ben, I'm sorry you and Gwen are going through this, but you don't have to push others away like that!" Pierce softened his expression and continued in a quieter tone. "The others and I are just worried on how this is affecting you guys. Ever since you came back with Aggregor arrested and without Kevin, you've become more serious and less that the Ben we knew."

Ben just looked down towards the grass, his expression showing his hidden guilt. This gave Pierce more of a reason to find out what is wrong. "Ben, I just want to know if you are really okay."

"This whole thing is my fault," Ben simply answered while turning his gaze towards the spiked teen; not bothering to lift his head. Pierce simply waited for Ben to continue as the guilty hero shook his head and faced the sky once again. "I couldn't stop Aggregor and Kevin mutated again, because of me."

"Kevin made that choice to…"

"I sorta gave him the idea. Fact is, I mutated Kevin and now he and Gwen hates me."

"Gwen doesn't hate you Ben."

"Yes she does. I know my cousin. She loved Kevin; she still does. It's just; I don't think we can get our Kevin back."

Pierce knew what that statement meant. He heard that Ben had lost hope to help him. Ben thinks he needs to put Kevin down; for good. Gwen was against that idea from the start, but Pierce never knew how Ben really felt about the idea.

"And you? Why you'd gave up on Kevin?" Pierce asked simply. Ben took a breath, opting to stare at the ground now.

"Because what happened to him was because he absorbed my powers, so it's my fault, and he is crazier than when we first met."

Pierce thought this over. Truth is, he never knew the circumstances between Kevin and Ben's friendship. Those two doesn't get along very well, and Kevin spends most of his time making fun of Ben. How did those two become friends?

"How did you guys first met? How did you guys become friends?" questioned Pierce over all this. Ben ran a hand through his hair, as he finally explained:

"I was ten, and Grandpa Max was mad at me for getting us kicked out of a hotel because I used my powers to play this video game. We fought, and I left the Rustbucket. I went to the arcade; that's where I met Kevin. There were a bunch of punks out to get Kevin, so I used my powers to help. After that we hung out. One thing led to another, and we decided to become partners, you know to do whatever we want, no one to tell us what to do. Out first gig happened to be to rob a train filled with money. Kevin was insane at the time, so he set the train to collide with a passenger train. People were going to be killed but Kevin didn't care. I stopped him, but he started to absorb my Omnitrix for power and then using them to get back at those punks. We fought and in the end, I offered Kevin to come with us, but he wanted to steal the Omnitrix. He ended up absorbing more of its power. He ran off after that.

Later into my summer, I was getting framed. Kevin started to use the powers he stole from me to rob cities and hurt people. He can become the aliens I could use at the time, but he couldn't regain his human form. He blamed me for that. We fought again on top of the Golden Gate Bridge, where he mutated into a creature assortment of my aliens. I only got out of there alive because of a guy in charge of an alien catching group fired a laser at Kevin.

After a few weeks, Kevin showed up again. He knocked out Gwen and Grandpa Max. We ended up getting beamed into space and fighting together as a team in a space coliseum megacrusier run by an alien robot for the entertainment of a crowd of aliens in order survive."

"Really? How'd you both get away?"

"I came up with the idea to disable to shock collars and help rally the other prisoners, including Technorg. I then went Upgrade and possessed the alien robot and used the escape pods to get everyone home. Kevin; however, still wanted me dead. I was able to escape thanks to Technorg."

"And after all that Kevin still was after you?"

"You got that. Eventually he teamed up with Vilgax to steal the Omnitrix and take his revenge. We ended in the Null Void after Grandpa Max tried to stop them."

"You too?"

"Yep, Vilgax and Kevin were using the Null Guardians to find me. Gwen came after me and they almost got the Omnitrix. We ended up leaving them behind with me getting the watch back. That was the last I've seen Kevin when I was ten."

Pierce was surprised to say the least. "That's quite a history you two have. What made you gave Kevin another chance?"

"I don't know. Probably it had to do with fact that he's changed or the fact that when I was ten, I traveled through time and meet him and myself during the time we were going to face Aggregor at the Forge of Creation and woke up the next day thinking it was all a dream."

Pierce started at him after that explanation. "What?"

"I'll explain later, but it was because of my younger self, I gave Kevin the idea to absorb the powers of the Ultimatrix. He stopped Aggregor, but…you know the rest."

"That is one crazy story." That was all Pierce could say. Ben has been through life and death situations since he was ten. He couldn't imagine Ben's adventures from time to time, some of those stories seem to warp reality itself.

"You get use to weird stuff with my life." Ben said with a wry laugh. "Now Kevin is out there, hurting people; some of them are innocent. He almost murdered some of those people. He's like this because of me."

"Ben, it isn't your fault."

"Yes it is!" Ben shouted out in frustration. "My best friend is an insane murderer because I was too weak! I couldn't stop Aggregor, I couldn't stop Kevin, and I am not sure if I'm truly the hero everyone says I am! I don't know who I am anymore."

Ben shrugged from his rant; his frustration and guilt had exploded right out of him. He had to catch his breath from all that yelling. Pierce noticed in the distance that Helen, Cooper, and even Alan were watching all this go on. Pierce sighed.

"Ben, we're still here for you. You are the hero people say. We can help you with Kevin."

"Pierce, you don't understand. I didn't just lose my best friend; I lost my brother." Ben said all this with his head on his knees. Pierce placed his hand on Ben's shoulder, making him look at him directly in the eyes.

"I do. Remember that test you and Magister Tennyson had for us on that space station. I thought you betrayed us or we lost you." Pierce sighed again. "Ben, if it helps, I see you as a brother too. When we first met, I didn't know what to think of you. Helen seemed to think you were a strong person. And when you took down D'Void when I couldn't, I could see what she means."

Pierce looked up to the sky thinking about all this. At first, he couldn't help but feel jealous over Ben's skills and reputation, but now it is a tough job, but he does it because he knows what to do as a leader and what is the right thing to do.

"Ben, if you need us, we're here to help. Especially with Kevin." Ben turned his gaze towards the sky too, thinking about all he had said.

"Thanks Pierce, but I feel like this is something I should do on my own. But I will call if a need you, okay?" That is all Ben said while he held a fist to Pierce. Pierce nodded and bumped fists with him. They were soon joined by Alan, Helen, and Cooper; the three asking if Ben will be okay.

"What al' yall doing standing around?"

The group turned their heads to see Manny, two of his four arms crossed with an annoyed expression on his face. "Aren't we suppose to be training?"

Pierce nodded. "Right, enough stalling guys! Time to train." Ben picked himself off the ground, dusting his pants from any dirt.

"Mind if I join?"

Manny shrugged. "Alright, but I'm gonna kick your butt."

Ben raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so it wasn't you who lost our match three weeks ago."

Manny grunted. "Okay rematch! This time, we see who is faster through the course."

"Sure, Helen is the fastest."

Helen giggled at this remark. "It is true."

Pierce shook his head. At least Ben is feeling better. Alan ran up to Pierce as the others raced towards the track.

"You and Ben talked?" the Pyronite hybrid asked.

"Yeah, you did see." Alan nodded.

"You are right, you two are like brother." Alan stated. "I just hope Ben can face Kevin."

Pierce nodded with this thought. He watched as Manny and Ben started through the course with Helen and Cooper cheering them on. "So do I Alan, so do I."

FIN


End file.
